Baron Moïse, the Box, from Au Pied du Sinaï

Baron Moïse, the Box, from Au Pied du Sinaï is a lithograph created in 1897 by the influential French Post-Impressionist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Executed on grayish-ivory wove chine, this particular print exemplifies the artist's dedication to capturing the intimate, unvarnished aspects of fin-de-siècle Parisian life and its specific cultural figures.

Toulouse-Lautrec was a master of the lithographic process, utilizing the medium’s flexibility to achieve immediate, illustrative lines and rich textural effects. The work portrays an individual identified as Baron Moïse, situated within the controlled and often shadowed environment of a theater or opera box. This setting reflects a characteristic Lautrec theme: the subtle, psychological drama found in the act of being watched, rather than the performance itself. The composition displays the characteristic graphic economy and psychological penetration for which the artist is celebrated.

This piece was created as part of a larger series of illustrations commissioned for the literary work Au Pied du Sinaï. The full portfolio focused on societal observations, often featuring specific individuals or archetypes from the contemporary scene of late 19th-century France. Such illustrations provided important visual documentation of the era.

The Baron Moïse, the Box, from Au Pied du Sinaï resides in the esteemed collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, a major repository for historically significant European prints. As an integral component of the museum's permanent holdings, the work contributes to the comprehensive understanding of Toulouse-Lautrec’s pivotal role in modern graphic arts, with high-quality reproductions often made available for scholarly reference under public domain guidelines.